LanguageLine Solutions opens El Paso call center with 100 jobs

Scott W. Klein, President and CEO of LanguageLine Solutions stands in the lobby of the new call center that offers translation services to various companies nationally, the new center is located in westside El Paso. (RUBEN R RAMIREZ—EL PASO TIMES)

El Paso's latest new company is taking full advantage of El Paso's large bilingual population.

LanguageLine Solutions, a 32-year-old California company which bills itself as the nation's largest provider of language translation and interpretation services to companies and government agencies, celebrated the grand opening of its 100-person call center at 150 S. Alto Mesa in West El Paso on Wednesday.

The center began operating late last month.

"Over time, we'll have hundreds of people" working as language interpreters at the 40,000 square-foot center, reported Scott Klein, company chief executive officer. He declined to give a time line for job growth, which, he said, will be based on customer demand.

REPORTER

Vic Kolenc

The El Paso facility handles language translation services via telephone for banks, hospitals, 911 call centers and other government agencies around the country.

Document translations, another of the company's services, is not being done here, he said.

The company has about 25,000 business and government clients worldwide, Klein said.

It also sells translation services to consumers via a smart-phone app.

LanguageLine selected El Paso for its fifth call center in the United States because of its large population of people who can speak Spanish and English, Klein said. It also has six centers in Latin America.

"Spanish is a big part of our business. It's what first attracted us" to look at this area, he said. The company also found El Pasoans who can speak other languages, he said.

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The company provides translation services in about 240 different languages.

The company for several years has employed about 250 translators and interpreters in El Paso, who work from their homes, Klein reported.

About 4,500 of the company's 6,000 translators worldwide work from their homes, Klein said. The El Paso facility is not a typical call center, Klein said. That's one reason the company calls it a Linguistic Innovation Center.

Scott W. Klein, President and CEO of LanguageLine Solutions stands inside the new call center that offers translation services to various companies nationally, the new center is located in westside El Paso. (RUBEN R. RAMIREZ — EL PASO TIMES)

Cary Westin, director of the city's Economic and International Development Department, said he doesn't classify the LanguageLine facility as a call center because it's doing training and services that are more diverse than a typical call center.

"What I really like, is it takes advantage of the skill sets we have with our bilingual workforce," Westin said.

That's one reason the city provided the company data in hopes it would pick El Paso, he said. Klein said the company looked at about 12 cities during a year-long selection process.

Gustavo Cabral, 45, began working as a Spanish translator at the El Paso LanguageLine center last month.

He previously worked at another El Paso call center that provides technical support to companies' customers.

"It's a lot better than a (traditional) call center," Cabral said. The job has less stress because "you are not dealing with upset customers," he said.

So far, Cabral said, he's been doing translations for Bank of America and Merrill Lynch.

Cabral said he's getting paid more than at his previous call center job.

Klein wouldn't reveal the company's pay scale. But Westin said the center's average wage is above the $12.25 median, or midpoint, wage for El Paso County.

LanguageLine is not currently hiring people for its El Paso facility, but it continues to accept applications for future openings, company officials said.

People can apply at its West Side center between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., weekdays, and online at Languageline.com. Job information also is available from the company's staffing agency, SlingShot Connections, at 915-307-7302.

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